


strength is justice is strength is

by isurani



Category: Kamen Rider Saber
Genre: Gen, vaguely a character study, vaguely a prediction for the next ep, vaguely thoughts on kenzan swordsman chronicles, yes thats right. another isu lowercase fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29081547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isurani/pseuds/isurani
Summary: he should be the one to be the strongest.
Kudos: 14





	strength is justice is strength is

ren knows that touma was a traitor. everyone else was supposed to  _ know _ that by now. they were supposed to be going  _ after _ him, getting kento-kun’s sword back, getting  _ kento-kun _ back, not just sitting around and waiting in a dark room with everyone being quiet and high strung and why didn’t any of them make ANY sense?

is ren the only one who understands what’s going on? is ren the only one who has - who has managed to keep some sort of brain with the whole thing? it was infuriating, it was like pins and needles under his skin, enough that pacing around the southern base - which  _ sucked _ , it was colder and smaller and no one talked or smiled and he couldn’t  _ stand _ it - hadn’t helped, so ren had just left and of course no one had even noticed.

he just has to move, has to  _ fucking do something _ \- and kento-kun had hated it when ren had swore, too, but kento-kun wasn’t here, and who’s fault was that?

touma’s. it was always touma’s.

touma’s fault for not being fast enough, for not finding kento-kun in time. touma’s fault for being too weak, for not taking down calibur and getting his sword and fixing it. touma’s fault for being an idealistic, naive idiot that thought nothing would happen to kento-kun. touma’s fault for believing kento-kun’s  _ murderer,  _ for standing there and talking and - and - and - 

he believed ren would listen to him. touma believed that ren wanted to listen to a word he said, parroting the words that a murderer had said. the person who had taken his kento-kun away from him.

his hands were already balled into fists, but ren’s nails cut deeper, as if the needles buzzing away under his skin would bleed out through the indents, cut inside-out and give him the space to just think already.

but no, no, of course not. a hand moves to his hair, nails that had escaped being bitten down to the quick combing through ren’s short hair back and forth and back and forth. walking around the town wasn’t doing anything to help the restlessness, the unceasing  _ itch _ that was burning more than buzzing at this point. less like a current, more like a burn, hotter and hotter and twisting with the more he thought.

touma thinks he can say anything because he was strong, because he’s the strongest for taking down calibur, but it was a lie. he was a liar. he isn’t strong at all, because kento-kun was stronger than calibur even if calibur had killed him, was stronger than touma even if he had always been next to  _ him _ instead of ren. and kento-kun was gone instead of touma. 

it doesn’t make any sense. nothing made any sense.

it was simple. strength is justice. justice is strength. the strongest person is the one who wins, the one who’s right. and kento-kun was the strongest, so ren knows he was the one who was always right.

then why did kento-kun believe in touma? when touma wasn’t strong enough - wasn’t fast enough - is now the one to lie and betray them and get kento-kun killed?

now ren had to be the strongest one. so when kento-kun comes back (and he was  _ going _ to come back, no matter what anyone else said, ren wasn’t stupid. he believed in kento-kun even as he had dug into the dirt there only to find nothing) he would know that ren was the strongest and bravest and the one that knew what to do. they wouldn’t need to rely on touma. they wouldn’t need to rely on anything.

ren wants kento-kun back.

touma still has ikazuchi. touma still has kento-kun.

the  _ traitor _ has kento-kun.

it wasn’t fair.

“oh?” and then there was a familiar voice, and as much as ren wanted to wrap his hands around hayate until his fingers turned white he also very much wasn’t in the goddamn mood to deal with him -

“not in the mood to fight. leave me alone.” desast doesn’t show any signs of leaving even as ren spits out the words, the burn settling down to an unpleasant buzz in him but not going away. it wouldn’t go away with fighting, because ren  _ knows _ he was stronger than desast, even if it was a bit of fun to fight. he doesn’t care. he knows he’s the right one.

desast cocks his head instead with a hum.

“but you’re the one that enjoys fighting, aren’t you? i’ve had fun playing with you before. and i like seeing your strength.” fine, fine,  _ whatever.  _ ren’s the strong one, so he’d win for sure, so it wasn’t even  _ exciting _ . hayate’s twin blades slip out of the holster quickly, dragging on the pavement as ren glowers for a moment.

“you’re not as smiley as usual. that uninterested in fighting?” it’s the normal sort of drawl, even as ren pulls out the wonder ridebook, enough that it should be easy enough to just bat it off. he’s the enemy, even if he’s strong.

the anger humming under his skin doesn’t let any other words through. it’s a feeling, a push and pull that infects every thought going through ren’s head of fighting and strength, twisting them because it isn’t  _ fair _ .

how can he think about fighting like normal when it isn’t  _ right _ , when some traitor who isn’t even strong is out there pretending he’s the one in the right?

“it’s not fair.” ren ends up biting his tongue even as the words slip out. he gets out the “henshin”, and the sword and books sing as the wind envelopes him into the hero. “it’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair - aren’t i the strong one?”

desast hums in agreement, parrying ren’s first strike with hayate and immediately sending his sash after him as ren backflips once, twice. ren springs into the air, twisting and bringing the blades down, but desast moves out of the way with only a flicker of a red sash to show that he was there, and the blades meet stone and pavement.

“it’s not fair,” ren repeats, “touma’s the traitor. he listened to calibur. why does he get to be the strong one? why did he get to take him down?”

it should have been ren. it should have been ren, the one to take kento-kun’s killer down. 

ren had believed in touma then, hadn’t he? but that was a mistake. now touma was a traitor, listening to murderers, and -

“calibur, hm?” desast’s sword grazes ren for a moment before ren reacts, the book inserted in hayate once more and carrying him away with a burst of green wind. he dives under desast’s next slash with the sash, the rocks behind him bursting apart and kicking up dirt as he does so, sliding to the side and delivering a solid slash to desast’s leg. “i’m grateful to be rid of him too, you know. i enjoyed dealing the final blow just as much as any of you would.”

ren stumbles while he stands up.

“huh?” but touma had been the one to take down calibur. the two of them went in, only touma came out. it was simple. 

“did that flame swordsman not tell you? he was listening to calibur go on and on about something, so i finished it for him. a fight is a fight, after all. worthless to leave it halfway.”

the fire roars in ren’s ears as he retraces the words.

touma hadn’t killed calibur. he hadn’t even  _ wanted to _ .

calibur had killed kento-kun right in front of them. and touma had stood and listened. 

listened to a traitor. a murderer.

the sash’s next slash brings ren to his knees, and desast points the blade at him, but ren isn’t listening to that, either.

“that’s not fair.”

there aren’t words that make sense with the white-hot burning that ren can’t contain, can’t get out in fighting and can’t get out in words, can’t hold in his thoughts. it doesn’t work with a smile, it doesn’t work with a scowl, and ren doesn’t know what he looks like as the roar works its way through each thought.

“i’m gonna beat him up,” and the words are too simple, too much like everything else, but they  _ work _ for once, even harsh and discordant. “i’m gonna beat him up, and then i’ll be the strongest, and he’ll pay for not avenging kento-kun.”

yeah. yeah, that’s what ren’s going to do. he’s going to find touma, and he’s going to make sure touma knows that ren and kento-kun are the strongest, that they fight for justice. 

he’s going to take kento-kun  _ back _ , and touma will know that ren’s the strongest.

stronger. even stronger.

desast’s blade moves enough for ren to stand up.

“sounds interesting.”

**Author's Note:**

> one draft one take one opportunity . i want ren to go apeshit so bad it isnt even funny. i watched an episode of kamen rider kenzan and went oh boy oh man
> 
> wrote this between 12 am and 2 am i do not know what you want from me


End file.
